Arguments about Rewilding

There are many influential people who are involved in both the Pro-Rewilding and Anti-Rewilding debate. Some Pro-Rewilding groups include conservationists, preservationists, Michael Soulé, and Ted Turner. These people support rewilding for a variety of reasons such as increasing the functional roles of large carnivores, moving society away from managing extinction to actively restoring ecology, controlling pests, and increasing the appeal, social benefits, and the economic value of both private and public parks and reserves. Some Anti-Rewilding groups include politicians, the general public, and Martin A. Schlaepfer. These people are against rewilding for a variety of reasons such as the possibility of altered disease ecology and associated human health implication, unexpected ecological and sociopolitical consequences, establishment of programs to monitor suites of species interactions and their consequences for biodiversity and ecosystem health, economic costs, acceptance of predation as an overriding natural process, and the incorporation of pre-Columbian ecological frameworks into conservation strategies.For more specific information visit the Debatye subpages, politics, science, or ethics.

Political Debate

At the current time there is not much information available on the political situation of rewilding. This is mainly due to the lack of government involvement in rewilding efforts across the country. However, rewilding will have significant economic and political impacts if it succeeds. Interested in Political Effects? Politics

Scientific Debate

Within our society there has been much scientific debate about whether rewilding is a viable conservation effort for our time. Scientists are currently doing research on rewilding efforts, but their reasoning behind the support or disapproval for this cause is based on past conservation efforts, specifically reintroduction and invasion studies. Using experiments like the reintroduction of the wolf in Yellowstone or the invasion of a predator allows scientists to observe both the direct and indirect effects of the change. Although these scientists are using the same experiments they have not reached a consensus on rewilding. Interested in Scientific Effects? Science

Ethics Debate

Ethics are everywhere and in life nothing is accomplished until the ethics of the situation are determined. Within the Rewilding controversy the ethical views are being worked out on day at a time. In order to take an ethical stand you must first understand what is going to be effected by the controversy and why the change is occurring. Interested in Ethical Effects? Ethics